5 ways to reduce your single-use plastic consumption

Business owners and residents all over Tampa have been opting to Skip the Straw. Over 200 restaurants and establishments in the Tampa Bay area have gotten on board and adopted the “straws on request” practice and proudly display the Skip the Straw or No Straws St. Pete sticker in their windows and at their registers. (If you own a local business and would like to join the movement, sign up here and receive a free sticker for your business and inclusion on the skipthestrawfl.com website: https://skipthestrawfl.com/#request)

Citizens of Tampa have done their part as well by switching to reusable glass or metal straws (check your local Kahwa Coffee or pick one up here).

With that as the first step, there are also many more products available that we can all use to reduce the amount of single-use plastics we consume.

Straws are an easy fix, but how can we avoid using the plastic cutlery at our favorite spots around town? The utensils in this travel pack are made of bamboo. No plastic needed, and it’s quite the conversation starter when you break these out at lunch. The pack rolls up to fit nicely in your bag or even your pocket. Plus the pack comes with a bamboo straw. This set is our favorite.

Ok, this stuff is pretty cool. It’s like Saran wrap, but it’s reusable. You can wrap leftovers, keep a salad fresh in the fridge, prep tomorrow’s lunch, whatever you need to do. Use it the same way you would use plastic wrap, then when you’re finished, just wash it and air dry it, and it’s ready to wrap again. You can snag a 3-pack here.

The hardest part about using reusable grocery bags is remembering to bring them into the store. But when you’ve got a set of grocery bags you love, it gets a lot easier to remember! These bags are reusable, machine washable, and come in a wide variety of colors and patterns. Pick up a set of bags here (and don’t forget to use them!).

While we’re walking around with our reusable grocery bags, let’s go a step further. These reusable produce bags are a great way to stop using those plastic rolls that have sprouted up among the fruits and veggies. They’re made with a biodegradable cotton mesh and they’re machine washable and super durable. Bonus: They come in recyclable packaging. Drop some of these reusable produce bags in your reusable grocery bags and you’re good to go.

This shampoo bar from Ethique is a fantastic way to cut back on the number of plastics you’re picking up at the grocery store. One of these shampoo bars is equal to three bottles of shampoo. So you’re trading three single-use plastics for one small (recyclable) cardboard box. Ethique offers nine different scents. You can get a shampoo bar here.

Brien Neal is the Manager of Digital Strategy for RKC.me and a contributor for That's So Tampa and I Love the Burg. He graduated from the University of South Florida in 2015 with a B.S. in Advertising.